Board and pieces
The starting position, board, and movement are Mini Xiangqi. There are no advisors or elephants, no river, and each general remains inside its 3 by 3 palace.
This is open information. Both players see the whole board and both reserves. Unlike Dark Mini Xiangqi, there is no fog and no hidden move record.
Captures and reserves
When you capture a non-general piece, it leaves the board, changes to your color, and enters your reserve. Generals are never captured and never enter a reserve: attacks on the general are checks, and a player in check must answer the threat.
Instead of moving a board piece, you may drop one piece from your reserve onto an empty point outside the enemy palace. A dropped piece is live immediately: it can give check on the drop turn and moves normally on later turns.
Drop restrictions
Drops must land on empty points, and they cannot land inside the opponent's 3 by 3 palace. The current Mistboard rules allow chariots, horses, cannons, and soldiers in reserve. Generals never enter reserve.
A dropped soldier follows Mini Xiangqi soldier movement after it lands: one point forward or sideways, never backward. Drops may give check immediately, and a drop is illegal if it leaves your own general in check.
Check and endings
Win by checkmate. As in Mini Xiangqi, a player with no legal move loses rather than drawing by stalemate. Games can also end by repetition, the no-capture rule, timeout, resignation, or abandonment.
一盤示例對局
Step through this longer engine-lab game. It uses the current no-enemy-palace drop rule, shows both sides using reserves to defend and counterattack, and ends only after Black converts a late chariot attack.
對弈狀態
Drop Mini Xiangqi is open for alpha play on Mistboard. Create an invite for a friend or queue for an open game from the homepage play panel by choosing Drop Mini Xiangqi in the Variant row.